Specimen of the Day: Grammie

Many of you already know this, but everyone needs to that know my grandmother is awesome. She will be leaving this life very soon and it has caused me to think a lot about her, the person she is and great life she led.


Name: Grammie (Rosemary Bennett Fletcher)

Nickname: Growing up some of my friends called her grandma green hair because her hair had a slight green tinge to it from being dyed dark for many years.

Age: A lady never reveals her age, but I will say that she was 30 when she had my mother and my mother was 30 when I was born.

Occupation: Wife (to Bob), mother (to 8), grandmother (to 41), great-grandmother (to 13 (?) with 2 on the way)

Our History: I have always been lucky to live close to my grandparents. I grew up just a mile away from them in Belmont. They moved to Salt Lake City when I was a junior in high school and then I came out to BYU for college and have lived by them for the past 6 years.

Personality: Grammie's personality is unforgettable. In the words of Meredith, "Grammie has a combination of character, spunk, and uniqueness. She leaves an impression on everyone she meets." My grandmother has always unabashedly expressed her opinion. Most of the time it is refreshing. For example, during the year we studied Heber J. Grant in RS/Priesthood, my grandmother spoke in many wards because President Grant is her grandfather. His second wife is her grandmother. Grammie has a lot of great personal stories about him. In one presentation I attended she mentioned that oftentimes people in the LDS church try to say Heber J. Grant was not a polygamist, since while he was prophet he only had one wife, but she tells them "If Heber J. Grant was not a polygamist, then that makes me a bastard."

Great Stories: Grammie loves to talk. She also has some great stories. The combination of the two means she tells great stories. One of my favorites is the fact that she sent a picture of herself in a bathing suit to my grandfather when they were engaged. Just so he knew what he was getting I guess.

Skills: 1. Piano-playing. Grammie gave me piano lessons for 5 years, until I insisted on quitting in high school. She always wanted me to at least be able to play hymns, and I'll let you in on a secret; I can play most of them.
2. Singing. Grammie sang the loudest of anyone in our ward every Sunday. I have to think that part of my love of singing hymns in church came from her, even if I was slightly embarassed while growing up.
3. Calligraphy. Grammie always told me the story of her grandfather, Heber J. Grant, and how he worked so hard to have beautiful penmanship. She could do beautiful calligraphy and I tried, unsuccessfully, to learn from her once.

Favorite Food/Drink: No question, DIET COKE. My grandmother is rarely without a cup of diet coke with ice.

Favorite Activity: Sports? Not Grammie. In recent years her activity of choice has been TiVoing "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and then watching it commercial-free. She also loves Perry Mason.

Candy Supply: We could always count on Grammie for a wintergreen lifesaver during Sacrament Meeting. She also had a candy jar at her house she kept stocked with fun-size Snickers and Butterfingers. Every time we went to her house we got to take one home. Sometimes she let me take two after piano lessons.

Thrifty As They Come: Grammie is a bargain shopper. Her favorite store is any kind of Dollar Store. She first introduced me to this store on a shopping outing with her when I was 8. She is one of the only people I know who actually buys some groceries at the dollar store. She also never throws anything away. When my grandparents moved to Salt Lake they insisted on giving my family their food pantry items. One of these items was a syrup bottle from a New Jersey Grocery store, where they had lived 20 years earlier.

Generous As They Get: While she may be cheap, this is not the case when it comes to helping others. She is always eager to help those around her. When Grammie heard I was going maternity clothes shopping with my mother she insisted on pitching in to help me buy some nice things. She is not only generous with her resources, but her time as well. Grammie has spent countless hours visiting with women in need of a listening ear.

Sunday School Teacher: Grammie was my Sunday School teacher when I was 12. To begin a lesson on chastity she said, "Sex is the best thing in the whole world, but only after you are married." She tells it like it is.

Shoe Lover: I have never met someone with more shoes. We are talking multiple closets. However, she has never paid more than $20 for a pair. When we were younger we would ask special permission to go to her room and play dress-up, matching shoes to her also-vast, clip-on earring collection.

Independent Woman: Grammie has always done things the way she wanted to do them. When she was asked to be a seminary teacher to a class of "horrible teenagers" she accepted the call, but only under the conditions that she have a parent of one of the kids teach one day a week and the class not meet on Friday at all. When she was told that Fridays were for learning Scripture Mastery, she said she had it under control. Instead, they spent the first part of each morning learning scriptures and Grammie bragged to me that her kids knew those scriptures the best of anyone in the stake. Grammie isn't a rebel, she just strongly believes in modifying procedures as needed for the individual and/or situation.

Great Friend: Lastly, my grandmother is one of the greatest friends you will ever meet. Up until recently she was still having lunches regularly with her sorority sisters from college. Not only does she keep in touch with people better than anyone I have ever met, but she is a genuine friend. She sincerely cares about the well-being of her friends. She remembers every last detail of their lives and will probably share it with others, unless you tell her not to.

So, now you see, Grammie is one special lady. She will be sorely missed.